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Lake Travis Cavaliers guard Bennett Mohn (21) is offensively fouled by Steele Knights forward Gerald Liddell (15) and goes to the free throw line during the fourth period at the boys basketball 6A quarterfinal playoff between Lake Travis Cavaliers and Cibolo Steele Knights at Canyon Lake High School on Tuesday, February 27, 2018. JOHN GUTIERREZ / FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN

COMAL COUNTY

When Lake Travis basketball coach Clint Baty talks about the need for tough guys on his team, he’s not necessarily referring to hard screens or a smidgen of smack talk.

Instead, said Baty, it’s about a team’s mettle and grit. And the Cavs showed both in a 58-52 win over Steele in Tuesday’s rough-and-tumble Class 6A regional quarterfinal contest.

“Toughness isn’t strength in the weight room or how big you are or anything like that,” Baty said after the game at Canyon Lake High School. “It matters what’s inside of you, and our kids did a great of job of fighting for everything they got tonight. Whether it’s a rebound or a loose ball or being pushed on ball screens, our kids responded and did a good job.”

The work will continue Friday when the Cavs compete in the first Class 6A regional tournament in school history. Lake Travis will face Laredo Alexander at 5:30 p.m. at San Antonio’s Blossom Athletic Center. A win will send the Cavs into Saturday’s regional championship, where they will likely face District 25-6A nemesis Westlake for a third time this season. Westlake, which held on for a narrow win over San Antonio Wagner Tuesday, will be heavy favorites over South San Antonio in Friday’s second regional semifinal.

“I’m rooting for them,” Lake Travis forward Bennett Mohn said about the Chaps. “I hope they win, because I want to play them again.”

Mohn did his part against Steele to help ensure that the Cavs will at least have a shot at Westlake. The 6-foot-4-inch forward scored a game-high 20 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including back-to-back three-pointers at the end of the third period that gave the Cavs a 44-36 lead entering the fourth.

The slightly built Mohn — the roster submitted to MaxPreps generously lists him at 145 pounds — also provided plenty of the toughness that Baty talked about after the game. Mohn battled Steele’s physical front line of Jayden Martinez and Texas signee Gerald Liddell throughout the fourth period and made two critical plays without the ball down the stretch. He took a charge when the 6-7 Liddell lowered his shoulder while posting Mohn up in the paint, and his hard-earned defensive rebound with less than 2 minutes to play helped Lake Travis hold onto a 52-49 lead.

Mohn then showed his mental toughness by making all six of his foul shots in the final 24 seconds to account for the final.

The win gave Lake Travis (29-7), ranked No. 12 in the final Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 6A poll, its second win of the season over No. 4 Steele (32-3). The Cavs beat Steele 52-49 in tournament play earlier this season when Luke Hamilton hit three-pointer at the buzzer.

“We knew we had the upper hand a little bit because we had beaten them earlier, but we also knew that we’d have to play hard,” Mohn said. “We were concerned that they might know our stuff, but Coach Baty always comes up with some new stuff. The refs weren’t calling much tonight, so we had to hang in there and play tough.”

Steele held a 16-14 lead after the first period, but the Cavs clamped down defensively and began controlling the boards while earning a 24-21 halftime advantage. Lake Travis’ lead ballooned to 50-39 early in the fourth period after Garrett Wilson scored six consecutive points, but Steele reeled off a 10-0 run to close to within one point with 1 minute, 53 seconds.

However, the Knights wouldn’t score again until D’angelo Griggs hit a three-pointer with just 2 seconds left in the game.

“At times, they executed better than us and played better than us,” said Steele coach Lonny Hubbard. “They have guys who can shoot the ball; they’ve got some talent.”

Wilson scored 17 points for Lake Travis and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Point guard Ryan Bormann added 10 points, and D.J. Thorpe had 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Martinez led Steele with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Liddell, the future Longhorn, had 13 points and eight rebounds.